Past few months have been a struggle but I keep reminding myself " I contain multitudes" and it gives me permission to exist in complicated ways that society typically doesn't see or honor.
We can feel multiple emotions at once.
We can suffer and also recognize there are those who suffer greater hardships without minimizing our own.
We can see how many human created systems are detrimental and dream up new possibilities for how we can exist in this world.
We can struggle and be curious
We can become entangled in systems that no longer serve us and yet see that those entanglements can provide the impetus to change.
We contain multitudes.
In our bodies
In our hearts
In our minds
With the environment
With each other and all life
On this earth.
Let this be a reminder that our independent experience doesn't dictate the experience of other life.
I want to live in a world where the space we give each other is enough for each of us to flourish in the ways we need, in the ways that nurture the earth.
2 layer woodcut for @reliefconspiracy 2022 postcard exchange.
Woodcut
Large Prints!!
Picked up my woodcut and prints today from @uwtandempress .
After I left last Thursday, they graciously printed a print on Stonehenge paper and another Muslin print for better registration than I got with the Steamroller/ compactor!!
Of course this further proves that printmakers are the best people!!
Had such a great time at Tandem Press during @sgcinternational Thursday and on Friday ( the only day I could attend the conference)
I want to tag all the people I met at the Southern Graphics Conference but there are too many, so if you're reading this and we chatted, or I stalked you via Instagram 🙃 I'm so glad to connect ( in person or virtually) and be more familiar with high level printed works from all over. The organizers did a phenomenal job 🙌❤️
I really needed this... Thank you all for being awesome, My cup runneth over!
New Woodcut printing
Happy St Patrick's day! I'm not Irish and I don't really consume alcohol but I'm feeling pretty lucky that I get to print this 3ft by 4ft woodcut today!!!
If you're free stop by @uwtandempress between 11-5pm to see steamroller printing and printing on Tandem's XL press.
Thanks to @fresh_hot_press for organizing and for letting me tag along
This event is one of many in Madison for @sgcinternational Even if you're not a conference attendee you can see a whole lot of amazing printmaking works in display all over town!
Reminder also @overturegalleries reception ( all welcome) is tonight 4-6pm. Cheers!!
Creature Feature
Friday Creature Feature:
Bristlemouths, Hatchetfish, Stoplight loosejaws, Dragon fish, Lantern fish ( and more)
What do they have in common?
-They all live in the Twilight zone of the ocean ( Mesopelagic zone) beyond the reach of light.
- Most are daily migrants to the epipelagic zone- meaning during the day they remain in the dark and at night they migrate toward the surface water to eat
- They make up the deep scattering layer of the ocean- For a long time sonar from ships misinterpreted the ocean floor being a lot more shallow because the sheer numbers fish and the air in the swim bladders reflecting the sonar.
- Mesopelagic fish make up the largest total biomass of fish in the ocean- they are the most abundant
- Their abundance and their daily vertical migration in the ocean acts as a bio pump removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The global fishing industry has overfished the ocean's surface now they are increasingly interested in capturing mesopelagic fish on a massive scale. These fish are unpalatable so they'll be made into fishmeal for supplements and as food for aquaculture.
HARD STOP..... so many questions!!
If we negate the effects of this carbon sink and add more carbon producing fish byproducts, doesn't that add exponential rates of carbon into the atmosphere?
Are we going to properly manage and regulate the catch of these fish or are we going to fish these deep sea fish to their full collapse as we have with most other fish? 🤔
We still know very little about any organisms living in the deep sea. We need to see them, love them and protect them.
View this printed collection of mesopelagic fish at the Overture Center for the Arts through April.
From the past Suitcase of Curiosity
If you've been here with me on this small corner of the interwebs you know I love cabinets of curiosity and I used to create tiny woodcut curiosities that I took on the road in a traveling suitcase.
Here are some of my favorites from a couple years ago.
Still trying to decide how to offer these tiny BBS, I took a break because handprinting tiny prints is a labor of love and I just couldn't sell these for what I need to in order to adequately pay myself for my time. Until I figure out how to make this work better my amazing supporters on Patreon will be the only ones who have access to any random tiny cuts I create.
BUT if you want to learn how you can create your own curious woodcuts I'm your person. There are still spots available in an intro level course about cutting and printing. Link is in my bio to register but do so by Oct 9!
I can't ever pick a favorite but do you have a favorite from this collection?
Work in Progress - Wellnest #1
Building nests on many levels. Trying to hold a space for myself so I don’t burnout
This is an act of preservation, and of self care.
As yet another wave of COVID-19 descends and we live a daily unknown, this is a reminder that we are connected.
Even the smallest action of care, of presence matters. These tiny moments with nature are monumental. They provide clues to our own survival.
What moments do you include in your nest, your place of being?
Birds are experts of intuition. They buildand care for the future, utilizing whatever detritus they find in their ecosystems. How can we use what is already on hand to build for future generations?
This and other nests will be on view at the Schlueter Art Gallery, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee Sept 10 - Oct 15 along with the work of Beth Stoddard in our combined exhibition “Interconnected”.